People think that everything we don’t like now about our
bodies will be gone when we are resurrected; and yet we will look like we do
now and be completely recognisable to our loved ones. But there’s no evidence of this in the Bible;
the gospel accounts show that the disciples didn’t recognise Jesus – therefore his
body was obviously different; and yet Jesus was still able to show the holes in
his hands and feet and therefore the things that disabled Him stayed in his
resurrected life. What a challenge. Our disabled elements of our body will be a
part of us but in a different form when we are resurrected. A perishable body will be buried (planted
like a seed) and a body of power will be resurrected (as a fresh shoot of a
plant). And this shoot will keep growing
and building and gaining power as our resurrected lives continue; we will be
gaining abilities and losing our disabilities.

This terrifies me; in fact I had to stop reading the twitter
stream from #fullaccesschurch when someone tweeted that we will still have to
use a wheelchair in heaven. But I am
reminded that it is so much less about our bodies and so much more about the
context in which we find ourselves. It
is not our bodies which are disabled in this world so much as the world which
disables us by not accommodating us; and the Bible tells us that the
resurrection world will be a place which enables us as we are and ensures that
we can fulfil our callings in all their fullness as God has planned.

Two main chains of thought come from this.

1.If I will be resurrected as a disabled person
with MS, which by the end of my life is likely to be pretty disabled; then I
will be resurrected with a broken body and yet will be full of power. I cannot imagine how it will be; but what I
am hearing is that I will leave a world where my disability and disease is reducing
me; to a resurrected life where it is the basis for my life which will be
healed and empowered and rejuvenated. If
this is possible then I start to think about who I am; which is a body but
which is not JUST the body but also the mind and soul and heart. My mind and soul and heart are not being
reduced or disabled, in fact I think they are being rejuvenated through the
suffering of my body. I am able to be
more reflective, more understanding, more able to empathise and more able to
think without distraction. This of course
may not have been the case in generations gone by when being disabled would completely
limit a person; but thanks to technology and society and my own stubbornness and
the blessings of Jesus I am able to continue to live a life of relationship and
thought and exploration and ministry.

2.If I will be resurrected blind and unable to walk
and possible extremely weak then it strikes me that I will be resurrected
exactly how I was born in my human life.
That’s a wow moment. It’s a point
of blessing in so many ways. We are all
born blind and weak and unable to walk and we learn and build and are nurtured
and grow. Suddenly I feel hope and joy
with the idea that my resurrected life with God will be a repeat of the life I
have already lived but with a parent who is all about making me the entire
person He has called and always knew I would become. And because this is a resurrected life this
will be beyond all limits; it will be able to peak at some high point which I
have never yet experienced. How amazing
to be able to realise that.

I guess what is holding central for me is that our resurrection
bodies will be resolutions to our problems in this life in ways we can’t start
to understand. We may have the
attributes which we consider disabling in our world, but they will not disable
us.

Another point from both Paula’s talk and the conference
which has stayed with me is that how we live in our body affects who we are. In 1 Corinthians 12 (repeated in Romans 12) Paul
explains identity and relationships through bodies because these things all happen
as and in bodies. What we do with our
bodies affects who we are; and therefore what anyone else does to enable or
disable us affects who we are. I wonder
how Paul would feel about the modern world which disables so many of us so
well? And what would he think of the
body of the church which disables us? What
would he think of a church which has no ramps or automatic doors or low lecterns
or has endless series of steps up to altars and pulpits which cannot be
accessed by wheelchair users; or no hymn books and service sheets or assistance
for the partially sighted; or hearing systems which never work properly for the
deaf or worship which terrifies some members whose brains are wired differently? It’s a challenge isn’t it! What would Paul think about a church which
disables people? What does God think?

Then there’s the other big thing which most of us who are
disabled Christians have encountered; the need to be healed of our disability
in order to meet the needs of those who offer it. I believe in healing, and have received
healing of my emotions and heart as I get used to living with MS and especially
with blindness. But I do not expect that
I will be healed physically; it hasn’t happened yet and I can’t help but think
that God sees a plan in this for me and that I am called to a ministry which
benefits from my disability. And yet
Jesus healed people; all over the place he healed. Paula Gooder talks about the fact that Jesus’
healing miracles are about integration of the person into their bodies in order
to integrate into their communities.
Jesus’ healing was predominantly about healing relationship through the
body, rather than about healing the body alone. For example; the woman at the well was healed not
so much for the physical aspects as to enable her to join back with her
community. Jesus would never imply that bodies cannot be
in relationship until they are healed; but He was focused on healing
relationships by healing the bodies.

I wonder what Jesus would think of those Christians and Churches
who require us to pray more to be healed in order to be the best we can be to
meet their need for us to be able? I
wonder whether Jesus would be more interested in Christians and Churches
healing relationships throughout society than healing the individuals who make
the able bodied feel uncomfortable; because I am sure that is a large part of what’s
going on. The things that makes our
bodies is an integration of heart and soul and body and mind and spirit; a
beautiful body working together for and in God.
No matter who we are and what our bodies are like we are integrated in
ourselves and with God; and in this integrated way we are in relationship with
the Body of Christ. It’s all about
relationship, rather than about the form of individual bodies. We are all one body and must be inclusive
completely.

1 comment:

Interesting about the healing aspect of disability and if there would be wheelchairs in heaven. I have been reading about the healing of the blind man outside Jericho this week. I feel that I have been blind by not being as quickly responsive to my son's needs as I should have been. I learnt about the societal aspect of disability and not just the medicalising of disability at a conference on inclusion a couple of years ago. The supernatural interpretation of the Bible is being downplayed a bit at the minute. If you are a person who is feeling let down by God or your experience of life is far away from heaven on earth then the societal model of disability is attractive.